Fall Term Awards Ceremony

The achievements of the fall 2021 term were celebrated at an awards ceremony Dec. 2 in Werner Centennial Center. Head of School Elaine White welcomed students and faculty to the event and shared the history of academic term celebrations at Westminster.

 

“I hope you enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving break, and I know that you join me in looking forward to our holiday break in less than two weeks,” she said. “There is much to do in the interim of what is often called Candlelight Term here on Williams Hill. I am reminded of Robert Frost’s poem, ‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,’” which she read.

 

“Frost paints a picture here of a wonderful moment of respite,” she continued. “Even though he feels burdened by all that he must do, he stops to honor the moment of peace that the night and nature have gifted him. I encourage us to do the same in these next two weeks. Find time to pause and breathe, appreciate the beauty all around you and enjoy the peace this season can bring.” 

 

Director of Studies Betsy Heckman, Academic Dean Bill Sistare and the deans presented the following academic awards:

 

Alexandria Goodman, Zelin Hu, Xin Yang Huang, Helen Marshall, Avery Rodeheffer, Finnian Seeley, Lucy Wainwright, Maxwell Williams

 

Michael Bianco, Carolyn Cheng, Nora Davis, Margaret Dilks, Wills Erda, Chung Hon Li, Tarapi Pyo, David Suit

 

Lucy Benoit, Samuel Bradley, Maris Cathcart, Thomas Cramer, Stuart Dorman, Alexandra Haimes, Caitlin Hanypsiak, Qingyi Liu, Tia MacDonald, Alec Rosenbaum, Allen Zhou, Heather Zhu

 

James Breen, Sung Min Cho, Margot Douglass, Yufei Hong, Jeremy Hopsicker, Daniel Lurie, Isaac Mullen, Olivia Olney, Jacob Osborne, Molly Rubin, Ethan Ruller, Kellen Seeley, Zhenxuan Shao

 

Director of Athletics Tim Joncas and coaches then presented the following fall athletic awards:

Named in honor of former faculty member Richard P. Scott Berry, the Berry Awards recognize the player from each lower team who gave the best effort and demonstrated the best attitude throughout the season.

 

Junior Varsity Field Hockey: Michaela Crabtree-Crowley ’22

Third Field Hockey: Lily Wendler ’24

Junior Varsity Boys’ Soccer: Christian Yalda ’22

Third Boys’ Soccer: Allen Zhou ’23

Fourth Boys’ Soccer: Ben Swift ’25

Junior Varsity Girls’ Soccer: Caroline Cochener ’22

Third Girls’ Soccer: Maris Cathcart ’23

Varsity Field Hockey:

Pitcairn Most Valuable Player: McKenzie Bloom ’23

Most Improved Player: Margee Mahoney ’24

Varsity Boys’ Soccer:

The 1956 Most Valuable Player: Ronaldo Fatolou ’24

Wilbraham Most Improved Player: Thomas Cramer ’23

Varsity Girls’ Soccer:

Most Valuable Player: Jillian Gregorski ’23

Most Improved Player: Lindsey Valenti ’22

Varsity Boys’ Cross Country:

Jones Most Valuable Runner: Oliver Fenner ’22

Most Improved Player: Jay Henry ’23

 

Varsity Girls’ Cross Country:

Wilbur Most Valuable Runner: Emma Mason ’23

Most Improved Player: Carolyn Cheng ’24

 

Varsity Water Polo:

Most Improved Player: Wills Erda ’24

Most Valuable Players: Keegan Bankoff ’22 and Max Larock ’22

 

The Stephen Harris Squibb Bowl awards, which honor the athlete from each varsity team who demonstrated the greatest sportsmanship, consistent effort and inspired performance throughout the season, were given to:

Varsity Boys’ Cross Country: Spencer Kwan ’22

Varsity Girls’ Cross Country: Janessa Yan ’22

Varsity Field Hockey: Margaret Sadak ’22  

Varsity Water Polo: Rich Mugler ’22

Varsity Boys’ Soccer: John Picard ’22

Varsity Girls’ Soccer: Wheatley Sutro ’22

 

The All-Founders League Award is given to two members of each first team in recognition of those student-athletes who best exemplify the league’s ideals of sportsmanship, hard work and character in the spirit of competition and fair play at the varsity level. 

 

Varsity Boys’ Soccer: John Picard ’22, Jonah Prentiss ’22

Varsity Girls’ Soccer: Wheatley Sutro ’22, Sam DeKanter ’22

Varsity Boys’ Cross Country: Spencer Kwan ’22, Oliver Fenner ’22

Varsity Girls’ Cross Country: Emma Mason ’23

Varsity Field Hockey: Bennet Ghriskey ’22, Margaret Sadak ’22

Varsity Water Polo: Max Larock ’22

 

The Hopley-Jackson Award, which is given to the Westminster lower team with the best season, was presented to:

 

Junior Varsity Girls’ Soccer

Coaches: Peter Ulrich, Kathleen Devaney

Captains: Alexa Dwyer ’22, Lily Marvin ’22, Molly Rubin ’22

 

The Frederick D. Houghton Award, which is given to the Westminster team with the best season, was presented to:

 

Varsity Boys’ Soccer

Coaches: Jay Keough, Charlie Griffith

Captains: John Picard ’22, John Clofine ’22

Director of Theater A-men Rasheed presented the Frances Laurel Hopkins Award, which is given to a student for outstanding contributions to the Westminster Dramat Association, to Olivia Olney ’23.

 

The co-presidents of Dramat introduced the newest members of Dramat, the student dramatic organization requiring 100 hours of service, as Alexandria Goodman ’25, Charlie Gordon ’23, Caitlin Hanypsiak ’23, Tiffany Hui ’23,

Kade Smith ’23 and Grace Yuan ’23.

 

The newest member of the Williams Hill Players, requiring 400 hours of service, is Ariel Seidu ’22

 

In closing, Head of School White announced that the last celebration of the ceremony would focus on the school community. “We know that we are nothing without our community, and we know each one of us plays a crucial role in building that community,” she said. “The strength and the love of every person in this community give us the staying power that we need to pursue studies or teach, stay focused on the field or the stage, and push ourselves to be better. Graham Cole, head of school from 1993-2010, awarded a headmaster’s pin each season to recognize extraordinary community commitment; it is a practice that I am delighted to revive.”

 

She explained how she solicited nominations for the award from the faculty and that there was an outpouring of nominations which were accompanied by wonderful descriptions. “I wish I could read every one to you because they capture the respect and love that we have for one another in this community,” she said. “I am sorry that I cannot award a pin for every specific nomination, but those numerous nominations serve as testament to the love, effort and care that happen under the radar, behind closed doors and away from the fanfare, and they confirm how lucky we are to be in this space and time with one another.”

 

She presented the first award to Emma Mason ’23, saying, “In true Robert Frost spirit, for committing herself to find respite in nature and organizing with faculty to ensure that anyone in our community could hike on any given Sunday.”

 

The second recipient was faculty member Nick Cary “for creating community with his trash-talking, Dunkin’ Donuts-filled pickleball extravaganzas.”

And the third award, she “presented” to the entire school community by saying: “Our focus this fall was to build community. That is our focus every year, as it should be, but this fall it was even more important to make community the center of our being. Many of us, including yours truly, were new to the community, and we had no understanding of the expectations here. Returning students, faculty and staff were coming off a year and a half of COVID restrictions, which while trying to embrace community as much as possible last year, often had to sacrifice community moments and traditions in order to ensure the health and safety of all. 

 

“Our job this fall was to make Westy, Westy again, and I am proud to stand before you and congratulate each and every one of us for the contributions that we made on a daily basis to build the fabric of this community. It started with the intentional efforts and determination of faculty and staff last spring and summer to find our way out of COVID restrictions and recreate an interactive academic, athletic, artistic and social experience for students. It continued with the enthusiasm and leadership of the Prefect Board and the Sixth Form, who despite having not had the traditional exposure to and practice for leadership, challenged themselves to be present and be role models, and it was embraced and reinforced by the rest of the student body through everything from pop-up stud dances to mentor-mentee events to dorm feeds to sideline cheering to spirit week.

 

“We create community through the sum of what we each bring to it, and in the fall of 2021 we brought our whole selves to the Hill, and so I am awarding the final community pin to us, to every student, faculty and staff member who held a door, shared a smile, sat with a friend, chatted with someone new, or offered kindness, empathy and support.” 

 

She said the communal pin would be recognized the next morning with the availability of Brookside bagels in the dining hall as a “symbolic internalization of the joy that food and friends create in our community.”